Excerpts from The Texas Tribune’s The Brief on Texas Politics and Policy
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Tony Buzbee, a Houston lawyer known for his bombastic style, announced he will defend Ken Paxton in his impending Senate impeachment trial. Buzbee came out swinging in his press conference Wednesday, declaring the suspended attorney general the victim of a “kangaroo court.” However, Rusty Hardin, one of the lead prosecutors for the impeachment, said last week the evidence against Paxton is “10 times worse than what has been public.”
The latest entry in our series summing up the 2023 legislative session examines bills related to health. Some Texans, like low-income mothers, made important gains with extended Medicaid benefits after birth. But the majority of changes were tweaks to current laws or added financial support directed at existing programs instead of sweeping new initiatives.
The Texas Senate passed three immigration bills Wednesday that would create a border police force, make it a state crime to cross the Texas-Mexico border illegally and raise the minimum punishment for people convicted of smuggling migrants. The bills are unlikely to proceed through the lawmaking process because the House has already adjourned and probably won’t come back to approve the Senate’s changes — a required step before a bill makes it to the governor.
A new Texas law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and set to take effect Sept. 1 prohibits local governments from requiring COVID-related masks, vaccines or business shutdowns. But the law doesn’t apply to private entities, to the frustration of some Republicans.
The state budget, which goes through an extensive approval process every session, crossed one of the last remaining thresholds when it was certified Wednesday by Comptroller Glenn Hegar. His approval signifies the budget is balanced, ensuring that more money is not being spent than the state expects to take in, before it heads to Gov. Greg Abbott.
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